Previews

Animal Crossing: Wild World

The adorable and addictive world of Animal Crossing just got a whole lot bigger thanks to Nintendo's WiFi.

Spiffy:

The ability to visit towns across the globe is outstanding; touch screen control makes things a lot easier.

Iffy:

You really have to play this game for a long time to appreciate all it has to offer.

It was one of the most immersive games for Nintendo's GameCube. A "community simulator" (as Nintendo likes to call it) that created a living world where hours and seasons passed in real time even when the game was off. Animal Crossing was wildly addictive, and thanks to a design that introduced new things to do every month, it made sure that you were entertained for at least a year.

As fun as Animal Crossing was, one of the top items on fans' wish list for the sequel was online play. Sure, it was fun to visit other people's towns, but since you had to swap memory cards to do so, it wasn't very convenient. Sure enough, the biggest feature that Nintendo is touting for the DS sequel to AC is the WiFi connection, allowing you to visit towns thousands of miles away. Of course, the game also supports the wireless LAN, making it easy to hop over to the town of the guy sitting next to you in class or on the bus.

To visit another town, the host player must open the gates to his town, allowing three visitors to enter. Once in your town, your guests are free to wander around, pick fruit, catch fish or insects, go shopping, communicate with your townsfolk, or (if they're jerks) chop down your trees. Don't worry, though, you're able to kick everyone out of your town if they start getting too rowdy.

Speak Easy

As you explore other towns, you're free to chat with the other players via an onscreen keyboard. Using the stylus to type is much nicer than using the D-pad in the previous game. The typed dialog then pops up on the screen just like in an MMO. Eventually, you'll meet a new character who will teach you how to use various emoticons that you can use to change your characters expression to fit your mood.

In addition to the new characters, old favorites will be returning as well. Mr. Resetti is still on hand to yell at you if you don't save properly, K.K. Slider still jams out on his guitar, Blathers still runs the museum, and the slum lord kingpin himself, Tom Nook, still runs the show.

The touch screen isn't just handy for typing, though. It's also great for creating new shirt and wallpaper patterns to decorate your house and character. One of the new features in the game is the ability to create constellations that appear in the night sky. As an added bonus, when people visit your town, there's a good chance that their custom constellations will suddenly begin showing up in your town.

With so many new features, the improved control, and all new items to collect (there's over 1500), Animal Crossing: Wild World should keep us busy for even longer than the GameCube version did. Heck, we'll be entertained by traveling to strangers' towns and sending rude messages to the townsfolk there. Now there's a great use for WiFi.